Dieckman reaction

The intramolecular Claisen condensation of diesters, or Dieckman reaction, occurs readily to give five- or six-membered rings, and it has been extensively used for cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone derivatives. 

The synthetic application of reactions based upon the intramolecular addition of a carbanion or its enamine equivalent to a carbonyl or nitrile group has been explored extensively. One class of such reactions, namely the Dieckman, has already been discussed in Section 3.03.2.2, since ring closure can often occur so as to form either the C(2)—C(3) or C(3)—C(4) bond of the heterocyclic ring. Some illustrative examples of the application of this type of ring closure are presented in Scheme 46. 

A route for the asymmetric synthesis of benzo[3]quinolizidine derivative 273 was planned, having as the key step a Dieckman cyclization of a tetrahydroisoquinoline bis-methyl ester derivative 272, prepared from (.S )-phcnylalaninc in a multistep sequence. This cyclization was achieved by treatment of 272 with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) as a base, and was followed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation to 273 (Scheme 58). Racemization could not be completely suppressed, even though many different reaction conditions were explored <1999JPI3623>. 

Further persuasive evidence in support of the expectation that the mechanism of the ECH-catalyzed reaction involves an Elcb mechanism with a stabilized thioester enolate anion intermediate is obtained from the membership of ECH in the mechanistically diverse enoyl-CoA hydratase superfamily [70]. Such superfamilies are derived from a common ancestor by divergent evolution the members of these share a partial reaction, usually formation of a common intermediate, e.g., an enolate anion. The reactions catalyzed by members of the enoyl-CoA hydratase superfamily (almost) always utilize acyl esters of CoA as substrates the reactions invariably can be rationalized with mechanisms that involve the formation of a thioester enolate anion intermediate, e.g., 1,3-proton transfer, 1,5-proton transfer, Dieckman and reverse Dieckman condensations, and yS-decarboxylation. Although mechanisms with thioester enolate anion intermediates are plausible for each of these reactions, as in the ECH-catalyzed reaction, evidence for their existence on the reaction coordinate is circumstantial because the intermediates do not accumulate, thereby avoiding spectroscopic detection. 

Two routes to the pentacyclic yohimbine skeleton carrying ester groups at C-16 have been described. Dieckman cyclization " (Scheme 8) of (37), a synthetic precursor of (38), leads to a major product in which closure occurs in the desired sense, in contrast to a comparable reaction on (38). 

The mechanism involves the formation of a thioacetal followed by a Dieckman condensation to produce the requisite five-membered ring. The reaction is completed with elimination and tautomerization to form the desired product. 

Dieckman condensation reactions of diesters have been carried out in solid state in presence of a base (like Na or NaOEt) using high-dilution conditions in order to avoid intermolecular reaction. It has been found that the Dieckman condensation of diethyl adipate and pimelate proceed very well in absence of the solvent the reaction products were obtained by direct distillation of the reaction mixture. In this method the diester and powdered Bu OK were mixed using a pestle and mortar for 10 min. The solidified reaction mixture was neutralised with P-TSOH.H2O and distilled to give cyclic compounds (Scheme 14). 

The process of substitution undertaken on carboxylic acids and the derivatives of carboxylic acids (anhydrides, acid halides, esters, amides, and nitriles) generally involves a series of replacement processes. Thus, individually, substitution may involve replacement of (a) the proton attached to oxygen of the -OH group (i.e., ionization of the acid) (b) the hydroxyl (-OH) portion of the carboxylic acid (or derivative) (e.g., esterification) (c) the carbonyl oxygen and the hydroxyl (-OH) (e.g., orthoester formation, vide infra) (d) the entire carboxylic acid functionality (e.g., the Hunsdiecker reaction, already discussed Scheme 9.101) and the decarboxylation of orotic acid (as orotidine monophosphate) to uracil (as uridine monophosphate)—catalyzed by the enzyme orotidine monophosphate decarboxylase (Scheme 9.115) or (e) the protons (if any) on the carbon to which the carboxylic acid functional group is attached (e.g., the Dieckman cycUzation, already discussed earlier, c Equation 9.91). Indeed, processes already discussed (i.e., reduction and oxidation) have also accomplished some of these ends. Some additional substitutions for the carboxylic acid group itself are presented in Table 9.6, while other substitutions for derivatives of carboxylic acids are shown in Tables 9.7-9.10 and discussed subsequently. 

Reactions involving other alkali metals are not as numerous. The properties of colloidal alkali metals have been known for many years but they remain unexploited in synthesis due to the difficulties associated with their preparation. Luche and co-workers observed that small lumps of potassium could be dispersed in a few minutes by sonication in toluene or xylene at 10 °C in a cleaning bath [83], The colloid generated was used in a number of reactions for instance, a Dieckman cyclization could be effected within 5 min (Scheme 40). 

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